


Mirror, Mirror on the wall!

by MaryAjana



Category: Life of the Party D&D (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Dark!verse, Mild torture, Mirror!verse - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-02-23 01:33:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23770366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaryAjana/pseuds/MaryAjana
Summary: Never look too deep into a mirror. Cassian should have considered the warning before examining the mirror in front of him. Sucked in and stuck in a parallel world, he must do his best to survive and make it back alive. But will he find a way back, not really knowing how he got there in the first place?
Relationships: Cassian/Renard (Life of the Party)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	Mirror, Mirror on the wall!

**Author's Note:**

> I seem to get all my inspiration for the Life of the Party Discord Server.
> 
> Once again Halvwyn helped me figure out some aspects of this story and threw in ideas for the main body of this fic. Without her I would still struggle with this.

On their way away from Shadebourne at last, the party comes across the ruins of a town that must have been abandoned for a while now. They decide to have a look around cautiously. Elyse suggests that they spread out in pairs to cover more ground. So Astra and Elyse, Boblem and Sariel, and Vanden and Cassian go into different directions to explore the houses. Cassian personally doesn’t think much of the town other than a waste of time. But it also gives him the opportunity to spend time alone with Vanden, away from the others. Looking over at Vanden, Cassian can’t help but smile fondly. While Vanden might not remember a thing of the ball and the following fight, Cassian remembers clearly and it still haunts him. Vanden looks up from where he is exploring a chest when he feels Cassian’s eyes on him. “Why are you looking at me like that all the time, Cassian?” He asks annoyed but also concerned. Cassian sighs softly. “You don’t believe me anyway.” He shakes his head sadly. They have all tried to tell Vanden what happened but he just couldn’t believe them and if Cassian was honest with himself he couldn’t blame him for it. He wouldn’t believe it himself, had he not seen it. He steps closer to Vanden and wraps his arms around him. “Do not worry about it, Caro. Just let me look at you that way for a bit.” Vanden visibly disagrees with him but he just leans in to kiss Cassian. “I trust you.” He straightens up again and smirks at him. “Let’s check out the rest. Even if it may be ridiculous.” Cassian laughs and turns again. He goes back to looking around but stays close to Vanden all the same. He slowly steps into the next room, taking in the sight in front of him. “Vanden!” He calls out after a moment. Vanden hurries in at hearing the call, looking around too. “They must have left in a hurry. Everything has been left behind” Cassian comments calmly and walks around the kitchen. His eyes fall on the table and what must have been food once. Mostly decayed already, it is barely possible to identify what was the last meal in this house. Vanden looks at the food with a serious expression. “I wonder what caused them to leave so suddenly” He muses quietly. Cassian shrugs in reply. “Let’s hope we never find out. We don’t need a fight here.” He reminds him gently. “Let’s see if we find something else in the other rooms.” Vanden nods and they look at the other rooms carefully.

Reaching the former master bedroom, Cassian looks around, slowly approaching a full size mirror. It looks very old, made of polished metal, allowing Cassian to see a slightly distorted reflection of himself. The visual is rather milky and the reflection is softened and vague. It takes him a moment to realise that something is wrong with his reflection. He crosses his arms in front of his chest and stares at his face. He quietly calls out for Vanden. “Caro, come here please. Look at this mirror. Do you see what I see?” Vanden start coming over when Cassian’s reflection changes. He watches in horror as his smile turns cruel and his reflection actually reaches a hand out for him. Vanden hurries over when he sees an arm come out of the mirror reaching for Cassian. He calls out for him and tries to grab him and pull him away from the mirror. He barely misses Cassian’s arm as the hand pulls him towards the mirror. Vanden watches with wide eyes, a scream caught in his throat, as Cassian struggles against the grip while getting pulled into the mirror. The scream that was struck, breaks loose from Vanden’s mouth as he falls to his knees right in front of the mirror. Within a few minutes the rest of the party pool into the room, alarmed. It takes them a moment to get the story out of Vanden. Astra uses his magic to calm Vanden down, who was starting to slip into a panic attack. Elyse carefully examines the mirror, trying to identify the nature of the magic. These has to be a way to reverse it and bring Cassian back.

* * *

Cassian groans quietly when he comes to again. He carefully moves his head to look around. He can feel stone under him and he is surrounded by the same stone. He slowly sits up and looks around more clearly. The only window high up at the wall behind him is barred. In front of him there are bars, allowing him to look into the main room. He can see other cells like his own, some empty, some not. There are also two guards sitting at a table, talking quietly. Cassian leans back, trying not to draw attention. He tries to understand what just happened and quickly comes to the conclusion that he has no idea and is absolutely screwed. He can wait for the others to figure out how to get him back or he can try to get out himself. Never having been one to sit around and wait, his thoughts soon turn to possible escape plans. When the guards notice he is awake, one of them comes over with a dirty grin. Cassian tenses and watches him cautiously. “So our sleeping beauty decided to wake up. The king will be pleased to hear that. He was getting impatient already and that is never good.” He chuckles softly. Cassian looks at him with a calm expression, even though he is boiling inside. “Care to tell me why I am being kept in this cell?” He asks coolly. The guard just laughs again and walks back to the table while the other guard calls out amused. “You will find out soon enough, man. They king likes to tell his prisoners the details and their sentences himself.” This makes Cassian worried but he’ll be damned if he let them see any emotions on his face. He simply leans back and crosses his arms in front of his chest. He would wait then.

It was only half an hour before a servant comes to the dungeon with the news that the king is ready to see the new prisoner now. One of the guards calls in two more guards to escort Cassian to the throne room. Cassian looks around on the way there and when able to glance out of a window, he is shocked to see a familiar view...Mirrortail! He looks down at his shackled hands. Was the mirror nothing more than a portal to another part of Caldera? That means he could escape and travel to his friends again! He prepares himself for the confrontation with Mattijn. His jaw drops when he is brought before the king though. That was definitely not Mattijn but Vanden... At this point Cassian is ready to wake up. This can only be a bad dream. Btu the tight shackles around his wrists and the impact with the ground when the guards shove him forward feels too real for it. He looks up at Vanden in front of him, staying quiet. After all this couldn’t be his Vanden. Vanden looks down at him with a cruel smile on his lips. “So you are Cassian Thiarin from a parallel world. I hope for you that you can give me more information than the last people that were pulled from there.” Cassian looks at him curiously. “What do you want to know from me, my liege?” He tries to keep his tone as polite as possible. If he can work with this Vanden he might actually find out what is going on and how he can get back to his own Vanden. Vanden looks at him for a moment before replying “I just want you to answer one question. How do you travel between your world and ours?” He asks calmly, clearly expecting nothing but a satisfactory answer. It is obvious to Cassian that this Vanden knows what he wants and he is used to getting it as well. Cassian takes a short moment to consider the best way to answer the question. Vanden is not going to take the news well...

“My sincerest apologies, my liege. I do not know how exactly I got here myself. But I will gladly tell you everything I know.” He carefully replies and bows before the king, hoping to appease him at least a bit. Vanden’s face darkens in response and he gets up from the throne he has been sitting on. He steps forward and grabs Cassian’s hair, pulling him up. “Do not think you can fool me! You’re a wizard and a smart man. Tell me how to get your world and I might spare your life.” He threatens him in barely suppressed rage. “Be assured I will make you talk if you choose to keep this information from me.” Cassian suppresses any sound at being pulled up by the hair and just looks at Vanden evenly. “I told you I will tell you everything I know but I cannot tell you what I don’t know myself, your highness.” Vanden pushes him back down and growls low. “I do not like your attitude. Maybe some time in isolation will cure you of that.” He turns around dismissively and the guards pull Cassian up roughly. They escort him back down to the dungeon but instead of taking him to the cell he has been in before, they walk him down another hallway to what looks like more closed off cells. One of them unlocks one of the cell doors before the other guard pushes Cassian in. “You shouldn’t upset the king,” they advise, “that will only get you killed.” They close the door, locking it, and leave him in complete darkness. He picks himself up with some difficulty, his hands still bound, and moves around to find a semi-comfortable spot to rest for now. This is going worse than he thought. Now he can only hope that the information he can provide will be enough to entertain this Vanden until the others find a way to get him back.

They keep him in the cell for what seems like forever but in reality was only two days. Cassian has no way of telling the time in this absolute darkness but it gives him time to figure out what happened and what he might be able to tell the king without potentially giving him a chance to cross to Cassian’s world. As dangerous as his situation is, he wants to keep the others safe. He has to trust in Vanden and the others and just get through this until they find him. Suddenly there are footsteps outside and a moment later Cassian is engulfed in blinding light. Before he can adjust to it, rough hands grab him and pull him out of his cell. Cassian wordlessly walks with the guards, head held high, even though in his mind he can’t stop repeating what he is going to tell the king about how he got there. He looks directly at the king in front of him before bowing carefully. The king seems to be satisfied by this show of respect, which secretly amuses Cassian greatly. “Your highness,” he greets him calmly, “I apologise for my outburst last time.” The king nods slightly. “Tell me then. How did you get here?” Cassian bows again. “I was exploring an abandoned house and came across a mirror. My reflection did not match me and an arm coming out of the mirror pulled me in. The next thing I know I wake up in a cell in your dungeon.” He recalls truthfully. The king raises an eyebrow. “And how would one get from one side to the other deliberately?” He asks slightly impatient again. Bracing himself for another outburst, Cassian looks at him evenly. “I don’t know, your highness.” The king’s face darkens and he slaps Cassian across the face hard. “Wrong answer. You came here, you need to know how. So tell me or you’ll regret it.” He warns in a low, deep voice. Cassian takes a short moment, knowing that he’s in trouble. “I do not have the answers you seek. I do not know how I got here, my liege” he replies very politely and carefully.

The king turns around and orders his guards to hold Cassian down. Getting pushed down to his knees and held in place by the guards, Cassian can do nothing but watch the king approach a chest behind the throne and take something long and thin out of it. He schools his features when the king, he refuses to see him as Vanden, comes back with an evil glint in his eyes. “If you don’t want to talk, I will make you talk.” He promises with a grin, holding up the birch rod for Cassian to see. Cassian just looks up at him emotionlessly. There is no point in answering. The king steps behind Cassian, taking away any chance for him to see what’s going on. For a moment he does not hear anything while the king stands behind him. Then he feels a blade against his back and he tenses up, unsure of what the king has planned. The next moment there is a ripping noise and Cassian’s shirt falls away, leaving the back bare. Now Cassian knows exactly what to expect from the other man. For a second, he feels indignation at his clothes being ruined but his mind jumps to a sharp sensation across his back a moment later. He grits his teeth and lets his mind go blank. He refuses to give the king the satisfaction of seeing his pain. He does his best to hold still despite the intensifying pain. Cassian has no clue how long this torture goes on. At one point he can feel his skin break and blood pour down his back but it doesn’t stop the king. He only stops Cassian can’t hold back a grunt of pain anymore, being in too much agony. The king moves around Cassian to look at his face but Cassian stubbornly looks down until the feels the tip of the birch rod under his chin, pushing his face upwards “Do you want to change your answer now?” The king asks calmly, a pleasant smile on his face. “You can do to me what you want but I cannot tell you what I don’t know myself. And I refuse to lie.” Cassian replies in a steady voice he doesn’t feel. This wipes the smile off the king’s face and he slap Cassian across the face again. “You should stop your foolish resistance.” Turning to the guards he barks orders at them before returning to his throne. The guards hurry to pull Cassian out of the throne room, knowing they could be next if they didn’t obey quickly.

They lead Cassian to yet another cell in another part of the dungeon. Cassian stays quiet the whole way, focussing solely on walking evenly with them. They lead him into the cell and take off his shackles, only to tie him up in others suspended from the wall. This cell is different from the others he has been in. He can practically feel the magic surging through the stone around him. He watches the guards leave the cell and when the door closes, he is engulfed in total darkness again. But this time it is worse! Last time he could still hear movements outside but to his horror the closing of the door shuts off any sound this time. He can’t hear any footsteps even though he knows the guards are right there outside. Cassian pulls his knees up to his chest and painfully wraps his arms around them as much as his shackles allow. His head comes to rest on his knees and he allows himself to let out a long, shuddering sigh. It is startling to not even be able to hear your own voice when talking or making other noises. The magic around Cassian cancels out any and every sound. Cassian knows he has to stay strong to survive but it gets harder every day. He tries desperately to differentiate between Vanden and the king but he can’t. The king has Vanden’s face and the joy in his eyes when hurting Cassian burned itself in his mind. Deep down he knows his Vanden would never hurt him like this but with every passing day he is away from him, this knowledge slips further back in his mind. He struggles with what just happened even after the pain starts subsiding. They keep him in that cell for a full day in which he is trying desperately to keep it together and fins a way to escape his situation. Even though he doesn’t come up with anything it keeps him occupied and stops him from going insane in the deafening silence around him.

He flinches when the door suddenly opens and sound and light return. The guards from the day before change his shackles again and lead him back to the cell he originally woke up in. This pattern continues over the next week, the king wanting to wear Cassian out. He goes as far as to taunt Cassian while hurting him. Every time Cassian is then locked up in the silence room. They change the length of his time in there every other time so he could not get used to it. When the king still doesn’t get the result he is hoping for he ups his game by the end of this week of constant torment. When Cassian is led into the throne room once more, his face pales at the sight of the king. Like so many times before in the last week the king is sitting on his throne, the implement he intends to use laying across his lap. Cassian’s eyes automatically go to the terrifying whip in the king’s hand. The handle is made of mahogany with jewels adorning it. What terrifies Cassian though are the ropes attached to it. Nine in total, they are tightly braided with three rows of knots tied in about 30 centimetres apart from each other. In total Cassian gauges the length of the ropes to be one meter. He tenses at the sight, knowing there is nothing he can do to avoid the inevitable. There is nothing he could or would tell the king that saves him from the upcoming whipping. He once again pleads that the others will come for him soon, he is aware that he is coming closer and closer to his breaking point. The guards push him to his knees and he refuses to look up at the king. Even when the king gets up and walks toward him, does Cassian leave his eyes trained to the ground. The king runs the ropes across Cassian’s chest before forcing his chin up. When looking into Vanden’s face, something he always avoids as much as possible, he can see how much it satisfies the king to see him this subdued.

“Do you want to tell me now?” Cassian hates the tone of Vanden’s voice, knowing he will never be able to forget it. “I have told you everything I know” He replies tiredly. The king doesn’t reply, he just smiles down at Cassian. He orders the guards to tie Cassian to a frame that was installed to the side of the room. They quickly obey his order and then take their leave, leaving Cassian and the king alone. Cassian closes his eyes, bracing himself for the pain to come. The king steps next to him and slowly lets the ropes run across Cassian’s back. Then he pulls back and the pain begins with a loud crack. Cassian gasps and arches his back at the burning pain all over his back. Before he can truly comprehend the pain, another burst of pain explodes across his back with a loud cracking sound. He throws his head back and groans low. The king smirks and puts more force behind the blows. Cassian tries to escape the pain but he is tied in place securely and can barely move at all. All he can do is endure the excruciating pain. At one point he passes out from the torture. When he comes back around he is still tied to the frame but the king is now sitting on his throne., attending to regular business while waiting for Cassian to regain consciousness. Cassian tries to hold very still, keeping his eyes trained on the ground. Even the smallest twitch of his body is pure agony. Once the king dismisses his council, he approaches Cassian again. “This is your last chance. Tell me how to get to your world or you will be executed tomorrow.” Cassian looks at him brokenly. “I have told you everything already. I can’t tell you anymore.” He says quietly. The king nods angrily. “Then you will die. You have wasted enough of my time.” He calls guards back in, who take Cassian off the frame and drag him back to a cell. They haul him back in and all he can do is curl up in a ball on the floor. It takes all his willpower for him not to break down. This is it, he will die the next day He pleads one last time for the others to save him even as he loses hope. In his mind he already apologises to Vanden and he finally allows the thoughts of never seeing them again to settle in. He refuses to move or make any noise when he at last allows his emotions to take over.

By morning he has regained his composure and calmly let them put a shirt on him before walking with the guards to the execution block just outside palace. A crowd has gathered already, any execution is a local event for all. Cassian looks around the crowd before focusing on the horizon ahead while someone reads his supposed crimes out to the public. The guards then lead him right to the block and he calmly kneels down. Taking a short moment to look around again, he slowly lowers his neck across the block. He forces his mind to go blank, closing his eyes with a last thought of Vanden as he remembers him. He doesn’t notice the king approaching and stopping his execution because new information have reached him that he needs to question Cassian about. The guards grab Cassian’s arms and pull him up and off the block. Cassian lets himself be dragged away in a daze. He barely registers the change of guards pulling him. He flinches when a few minutes later arms wrap around him and a familiar voice whispers sweetly in his ear. He tries to push the man away. “Don’t touch me!” He calls out desperately. To his shock the arms actually withdraw immediately. He takes two full steps back, looking at the king and the guards who have changed in their posture and behaviour so fundamentally. When one of the human guards slowly approaches him, speaking to him in Elvish, his eyes widen and he starts shaking. “Sariel...” The guard nods slightly. “It is time to go home. We have to be quick so they don’t notice.” He nods slowly in response and lets them lead him away. Still he stays as far away from the redhead in front of him as possible. They lead him to a hidden room with a mirror at the far wall which looks like a twin of the one that sucked Cassian into this weird world. The others drop their disguises and Cassian looks at the faces of his friends for the first time in weeks. Astra steps up and through the mirror first, demonstrating what to do, Vanden tries approaching Cassian again but he just flinches away violently. Vanden looks at him sadly and steps through the mirror next. Elyse sets up a trap that will destroy the mirror as soon as they have all stepped through. Sariel quietly coaxes Cassian to the mirror and they both step through. Elyse is the last one to leave this dark world, right before the mirror destroys itself.

* * *

Cassian falls to his knees when he sees the abandoned house around him. He made it...He managed to somehow come home. He can feel someone lay a hand on his back and he screams in agony. The hand is immediately removed and both Sariel and Boblem rush to his side. They carefully remove the shirt that was put on him this morning and reveal swollen lines criss-crossing across his back. Some have broken open, others are coloured black and blue. Cassian whimpers softly and tries to make himself as small as possible. Sariel and Boblem start to heal him and Astra hands him a healing potion when there is a choking sound behind them and Vanden stares at the damage done to Cassian’s back. “Who did this to you?” He presses out in a shaky voice. Cassian pauses for a moment, thinking about his answer carefully. “The king...” He says at last and they all immediately understand the implied ‘you’ Cassian is unwilling to believe. Vanden looks at him for a moment, unable to move, before he steps backward and quickly leaves the room. When Vanden has left, Cassian starts to relax slowly. It takes hours for his injuries to heal just enough to close the broken skin and reduce the swelling a bit. When the sun sets that day he is wrapped up in a blanket, sitting by himself next to a window in an upstairs bedroom. He withdrew after dinner to be alone for a while. They others leave him be. They are aware that it takes time for him to heal, not just physically. Eventually there is a knock on the door. At first Cassian doesn’t react but then he slowly opens the door. Sariel smiles at him softly. “Can I come in?” He nods softly and steps aside, moving back to his spot by the window. Sariel steps inside and closes the door behind herself. She moves to sit next to him and they both settle into a comfortable silence. The emotional stress Cassian has been under the last almost two weeks finally catches up with him. With Sariel by his side, Cassian allows himself to close his eyes and actually sleep for the first time since the beginning of his ordeal. While he normally sleeps for only four hours, this time he stays unconscious for the whole night. That’s why he doesn’t notice Vanden slip into the room in the middle of the night. Vanden carefully kneels next to him, watching him sleep. He is too scared to touch him, not wanting to wake him accidentally. Sariel just sits next to him and keeps watch over Cassian. Vanden leaves again around sunrise to keep his visit a secret. It hurts him that Cassian is so obviously scared of him but he understands it and is willing to give him the space he needs.

Sariel coaxes Cassian to eat and to come out of his room the next morning and, with the others trying to set up a sense of normality, Cassian slowly overcomes the initial feelings of terror and suspicion. After the first week back, he doesn’t feel like this is a trap anymore and starts actually interacting with the others more again. The few interactions between Vanden and Cassian are initiated by Cassian. Vanden stays away as much as he can handle to not overwhelm him. One night Cassian approaches him quietly. “Vanden? Can I talk to you for a moment?” Vanden nods and they move to somewhere more private. Vanden keeps his distance and looks at Cassian concerned. Cassian sighs softly. “I am sorry...” Vanden quickly shakes his head at that, which makes Cassian flinch again. “I know it’s not easy for either of us. I can see it in your eyes and I am sorry. I love you , This hasn’t changed anything about that. But I still struggle to tell the difference between you and him sometimes. I know you would never hurt me but it was your face I saw.” Cassian confesses at last. Vanden doesn’t know how to reply to this and it takes a moment for him to speak. “I understand that. Cassian. I want you to take as much time as you need. I will be here whenever you are ready.” He smiles at him tenderly. “I will always have your back, no matter what.” This knowledge is enough to let Cassian to take a few steps toward Vanden. He slowly slips his arms around Vanden’s waist and lays his head on his shoulder. Vanden, eyes wide, moves his arms very slowly to not startle him and loosely hugs back. It has been three weeks since they have gotten Cassian back and this is the first physical contact between them. They don’t know how long they stand like this or for whom it is more comforting but they now know that they’ll be fine again. It is another few weeks until Cassian slowly stops flinching at sudden movements or loud voices. And it will be months until Vanden hears Cassian confidently call him Caro again but eventually they go back to as normal as they can, overcoming the trauma of this ordeal.


End file.
